Love/Like: Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Homer Bailey

I like to keep it positive in my life so I typically don’t like to “hate” things. I’m sure I’ve written that I “hate” this guy or that over the years, but in an effort to stay positive and look at the bright side, I’m going to take a look at the starting pitchers I fully recommend being in your starting lineup (love) and guys that I like, but you may want to consider sitting these fellas down for their upcoming start. So without further ado, and in celebration of my sister’s birthday, here are some guys I love.

Love

Mike Minor @ Kansas City
Minor has given up 4 earned runs in each of his last 2 starts, but he’s facing a Royals team that managed 1 run on 5 hits the last time they faced Minor on April 17th of this year. In that start, Minor took the loss, but struck out 5 in his 6 innings. The Royals offense has been pretty terrible all season long. They rank 14th in the AL in OPS (.679) and 12th in runs/game (3.89). The Braves on the other hand are 6th in the NL in OPS (.722) and 6th in runs/game (4.14). Minor has made 7 interleague starts and owns a 3.86 ERA in those games.

Lance Lynn @ Houston
Starting any top quality pitcher against the Astros is kind of a no-brainer, but Lynn has been so sharp that I love him in this start. He’s made 4 career starts against the Astros and owns a 4-0 record. His 1.42 ERA against Houston is lower than against any other team. Add that history to some stellar pitching and you see why I love Lynn so much. He struggled in his June 15th start against the Marlins, but other than that has been very sharp this season. He is striking out 24.7% and walking 8.9% of the batters he faces. That nets out to a 9.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 2.76 K/BB ratios. I would love to see him limit his walks more, he’s given up at least 1 free pass in each of his starts this season. Houston is 13th in the AL in taking walks so Wednesday may be the time for Lynn to tidy that up.

Like

Homer Bailey @ Oakland
Homer Bailey is a guy that I just can’t get my head around. He obviously is incredibly talented, but he hasn’t shown me enough to be a fantasy ace. He’s been fairly consistent, but he also throws in too many 6+ earned run starts (3 so far in 2013). That kind of blow up is not welcome on my team. So why do I like Bailey in this start against a team who is 5th in the AL in runs/game? Bailey’s ability to limit his walks (career low 5.9% in 2013), get first pitch strikes (65% in 2013) and his career high 24.3% strike out percentage. That’s what. Oakland leads the leads the majors in drawing walks which contributes to their team OPS+ of 104 that’s just about league average. If you can limit their walks, their offense becomes significantly less potent.